Announcing 2012’s Literary Upstart: The Search for Pocket Fiction

Since the spring of 2005, if you can believe it, Literary Upstart, The L Magazine’s short fiction competition and reading series, has been pitting New York’s best unknown writers against each other in a booze-addled literary Thunderdome, and we’ll be doing so again this year.

This spring, semi-finalists (12-15 in total) will be invited to read said stories at one of our three seminfinal readings, at some bar someplace, in front of a live, lively audience, and a panel of judges comprised of members in good standing of New York City’s exalted literary community; after issuing their critiques, the judges will pick the winners who’ll advance to the final, where the readers will vie for a cash prize and publication in our annual Summer fiction Issue.

Plus! Booze specials! Trivia! Stage banter that’s barely been reworded since 2005! Watch this space over the next month, as we announce more about the competition, including dates, venues, judges, submission deadlines, and surprises (surprises!). We look forward to seeing you at the readings. Or I do, anyway.